Case Missing Officer
by kala9
Summary: After the New Year's party Nick never got back home, and no one has heard from him after the party. Judy is worried sick and it is up to her to find out what happened after the party to her best friend and partner. WildeHopps. Rated T for some profanities and alcohol use.
1. New Year at Marian's

**-Case Missing Officer-**

 _Hiya!_

 _I'm here with a new fanfic. Cool, right?_

 _I hope you have had fun on New Year's eve. I personally couldn't party as I was the designated driver to my friends, my parents, my godparents_ _ **and**_ _my sister. So yeah._

 _So while everyone else was getting drunk elsewhere, I had some time to write and this little fic was born._

 _This will not be very long, no more than 4 chapters estimated (hopefully lol) Also this is unedited and there might be typos, and English isn't my first language so please excuse any dumb mistakes (why are prepositions so damn hard..?)_

 _Anyway, I will not bother you anymore. Hope you like it. Here's to 2017! (may you be a bit better year than 2016)_

 ** _Disclaimer: Do not own._**

* * *

 **-Chapter 1-**

 **New Year at Marian's**

 **January 1, 2X17**

 **Nick and Judy's apartment**

Judy groaned as she groggily opened her eyes, with the sunlight shining right on her face. She rolled over, searching for Nick's warmth with her arm but only found the cold pillow. She lifted her head up, realizing that the fox must have already awoken, although he almost never woke up before Judy, being a nocturnal animal and all.

She squinted as she looked at the digital clock on her nightstand. 10:16.

She rubbed her face as she slowly sat up, the room spinning fast and making her feel sick.

"Never again", she thought as she finally managed to sit up and started slowly walking towards the bathroom. The TV in the living room was on, playing kids' cartoons.

She emptied her bladder (just how much did I drink , she thought) and washed her face with cold water. She was already feeling a bit better and could finally walk without swaying or the fear of throwing up all over herself.

She walked to the living room. It was by no means big and there wasn't even a real kitchen, only a small space in the corner. She and Nick had bought the apartment together three months ago, and even though it was small and very cheap, Judy found it very cosy.

She was surprised as she realised that Nick wasn't in the living room. It actually seemed like the fox had not come home at all.

Judy thought about the intense partying they all did. Nick had proposed that they'd go to his favourite bar, the Maid Marian with some friends of his. They had had fun, they drank and sung karaoke and she was sure that at one point Finnick had revealed that he used to play the bass guitar in a band back in high school.

Judy had left early, because she had promised to fill in for McHorn whose mother had fallen in stairs and now her leg and hip needed a surgery. It had been sudden but Judy was more than voluntary to help.

Although most of the night was in blur, she remembered hugging Nick goodbye as she has left, and had made him promise to get a cab when he was done. She looked at her phone and saw that there were no missing calls, so she decided to call Nick.

" _The number you have reached is not in ser-"the_ all too familiar voice answered her. She hung up, thought for a minute and tried again, with no greater success.

She tapped her chin thoughtful and then decided to try Finnick.

She and the fennec fox may not have been the best friends, but they did get along and Nick had given Judy his number in case something like this ever happened.

"Finnick", a gruff voice answered the call.

"Hey Finnick! It's Judy", she said.

"Okay."

"Well, I was calling if Nick was crashing at your place? He hasn't come home yet."

"No."

"Oh, really? Um… So do you maybe know where he is?" Judy asked sounding a bit disappointed.

"No."

Her ears drooped.

"I see… So when you two left, did he say anything?"

"I wouldn't know, I left before him. That fox really has no self-control. To drink that many pints in one night… All I know is that he'll have a killer hangover today."

"Oh… Okay. Uh, thank you anyway."

"Whatever."

The call ended and seemed thoughtful as she stared at her phone. So Nick wasn't at Finnick's. There was no real reason for the fennec to lie, unless… Unless Nick was there with a girl.

She shook her head. Of course Nick wasn't there with a girl, and there's no way he'd even think about cheating her. Judy felt bad after even thinking about something like it, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

She knew it was in vain, but she tried calling Nick's phone once more. Nothing.

"It's okay", she said to herself. "The battery has just died. There's no way that he'd _turn_ _off_ the phone because he doesn't want to talk to me!"

She clutched the phone in her paws.

"Yes. It's the battery. The battery…"

The doorbell rang and her ears shot up, only to see that it was the newspaper being delivered. She walked to it and took it in her paws.

"2X17 STARTS WITH A BLAST", the headline read. She quickly scanned through the paper, not at all surprised by the fact that there had been many fights all around Zootopia.

She threw the newspaper on the end table and then looked through her contacts. Who would know about the fox's whereabouts?

Perhaps… No, she wouldn't do that.

But maybe she should. For Nick.

She bit her lip and then searched for Wilde, Lucia. She had met Nick's mother once. That was when they had just started dating and she found out that Nick had a mother; she had assumed that Mrs. Wilde was dead or the two were not in good terms, because Nick had mentioned her only twice. Then she had suggested that they'd meet and Nick had finally given in after two weeks' worth of begging and nagging from Judy. Mrs. Wilde had been very kind and supportive of their relationship despite having herself been born in the era when interspecies relationships were frowned upon.

It was clear that the years had not been kind to her, and Judy felt really bad that she still lived in that old, dusty apartment. Apparently it had a lot of sentimental value to her.

"Lucia Wilde", the call was finally answered.

"Hey, it's Judy, Nick's- Uh, Nick's girlfriend!" she greeted.

"Oh, hey Judy! How do you do?"

"Just fine", she answered.

"Your voice is a bit hoarse. You were out partying, huh?" the vixen asked with a suggestive tone.

"W-Well, yeah. I was wondering if Nick's there. He hasn't come home yet."

"Nick? No, I haven't seen him. Knowing him, he probably lost his key and had to stay at a motel", Mrs. Wilde replied.

"Okay", Judy said although she wasn't sure whether this was indeed the case. Nick maybe wasn't the most thoughtful fox around, but he would have called. But there was a chance that his battery had died before he had the opportunity to.

"Thank you for your help", she said.

"No problem, dear. Once you find him, please hug him and give him a lecture for me, would you?"

"Of course. Thank you again. Bye."

"Bye."

Judy pondered for a moment.

Well, she thought. If he is staying in a motel, he'll get back and call me. But now I need to get ready for another day at work.

* * *

 **January 1, 2X17**

 **Zootopia Police Station**

"Hey Judy. Had fun yesterday?" Benjamin Clawhauser asked her as Judy stepped in. He had been there ever since the morning and was visible exhausted; it seems that not even his work only consisted of sitting around during New Year's eve. The station was busier than even and Judy wondered how they even managed.

"Yes, although I'm still a bit hazy on the detail", she replied. "I didn't even drink _that_ much, it's just not for me."

"I get you", the cheetah said. "I can't really handle my liquor."

Judy suppressed her smile as she thought about few months back when it was Officer Clawhauser's birthday. The poor feline had drink so much and gotten absolutely crazy, stripping of his clothes and dancing half naked. Nick still had that on a video. And speaking of which…

"Hey, by any chance, have you seen Nick today?" she asked.

"Nick, huh? No, haven't seen him. I have been here ever since the cockcrow, so unless he was arrested, then no."

"Hm… Is there any chance he was arrested?" Judy asked half-jokingly but knew this was a possibility as there had been cases where Nick had taken part in the quarrels between some prey and predators.

"No, I don't think so. He's probably sleeping somewhere, he probably had a rough night…"

Judy nodded.

"Alright. Thanks", she said and the cheetah smiled.

"No problem, I'll always help my favourite bunny cop!"

Judy rolled her eyes smiling and left Officer Clawhauser as she has work to do as well.

* * *

She met with Officers Rhinowitz and Wolford, Officer McHorn's partners. The two were not thrilled having to work on the first day of the year, but someone has to do the dirty work. They had talked with officers who had been working the night shift, and apparently they were all exhausted. It had been the first New Year's Eve after the incident with the Night Howlers that almost divided the whole Zootopia in two. Needless to say, there were still some repercussions.

"I'm guessing you and Nick watched the fireworks together?" Rhinowitz asked Judy.

"Yes, we did. They were really amazing this year. Although they might be amazing every year, this just was the first year I actually saw them in person", she replied.

"I see."

Judy quickly glanced at her phone, but Nick hadn't called her. How long was that fox going to sleep?

"So, let's go", Rhinowitz grunted after drinking his coffee. They had to go on patrol, watch out for any suspicious activity or fighting around the precinct.

* * *

 **January 1, 2X17**

 **Patrol car**

"I don't know what you're trying to do, but I doubt anything'll happen if you keep checking your phone every minute", Judy suddenly heard Wolford say. She looked away from the screen at the big canine and smiled a bit embarrassed.

"I'm sorry", she said.

"Trouble in the paradise?" Wolford joked and Rhinowitz hit him in the arm. "Ow!"

"No, it's just… Nick still hasn't called", Judy said quietly. Neither of the bigger officers answered, after all they weren't even aware of the situation.

She decided to call him one last time, and she held her breath as it took a bit longer for the phone to make any sound. She felt only disappointment as the same monotone was all she heard.

"Something wrong?" Rhinowitz asked.

"Nobody has seen Nick after the party at Maid Marian's", she told him.

"Huh."

"I-I can't shake the feeling that something has happened. He hasn't contacted me, his phone is out of service and he was really drunk when I last saw him."

"Should we get something to eat?" Wolford asked suddenly. "We have been here already, what, two and a half hours."

"Sounds like a good idea. You in, Hopps?" Rhinowitz asked. "I'm sure Wilde's fine."

"Everyone keeps saying that, but it doesn't change the fact that he's missing", Judy muttered.

"I'm sorry, but it's not like we could even do anything yet. We cannot declare him missing before he has been away for 24 hours", the rhino reminded.

"But anything could happen during that!" she yelled devastated. "I left the party at 0:30, so it has been almost 14 hours since I saw him!"

"Maybe you're overreacting", Wolford said. "He's probably still shitfaced and sleeping somewhere else."

"He would have told me."

"Maybe he's passed out."

"Well then _someone_ would have contacted me! I mean, I'm his girl-"

She realised that both of the bigger officers we're staring at her. Despite everyone knew about Nick and Judy's relationship, she still found it a bit awkward to talk about it.

"Anyway, something's wrong. I know it", she said. "And once we're done with this, I'm going to find out what."


	2. Elephants and bread

**-Case Missing Officer-**

 _Here's another chapter, folks. English is not my first language so I may have made some mistakes, sorry. This is only estimation but there should be two more chapters after this, unless the final chapter is so long that I need to split it. Don't know yet._

 _Thanks to everyone who have followed and favourited so far! Bless you!_

 _Also I'm really bad at naming chapters. Jeesh…_

* * *

 **-Chapter 2-**

 **Elephants and bread**

 **January 1, 2X17**

 **Nick and Judy's apartment**

It was 20:35 when Judy finally made it to home, exhausted and tired as she opened the door and walked in. There had been three fights, one of which involved a stabbing, one domestic abuse issue where a giraffe had beaten her husband and children and it had gotten louder than normally so the neighbours had finally called the police, two robberies one of which happened in broad daylight, and one DUI. Also there had been some commotion at Rin Tin Tin's High School for Canines, but in the end it turned out that they were only teens playing a card game. The entire time she kept thinking about Nick even though she tried not to.

The first thing she did was to check the bed. Maybe Nick had come home and was now sleeping. The bed, however, was exactly like she had left it in the morning and there were no foxes in sight. Surely he would have already returned if he had stayed in a motel. She sighed and sat on the couch.

Nick was sometimes brash, loud and didn't think things first straight through but it was not like him to just suddenly disappear like that without any word to anyone.

Judy glanced at the clock. She had left at 0:30 which meant that it had been 20 hours since she had seen Nick the last time. Only four hours more, and she could file a missing report.

But a lot could happen in 4 hours.

He could be injured. Or dead. She saw gruesome images in her head, Nick bloodied and beaten and begging for help.

She nodded determined. Someone had to find Nick, and at the moment is seemed no one else could do it. Also, she had solved the case of 14 missing mammals (with Nick's help, of course). How hard could finding one fox be?

* * *

 **January 1, 2X17**

 **Maid Marian**

Very hard, she'd later find out.

The bartender was a greying fox and Judy had heard Nick call him Joe, but she didn't know anything about him. She didn't remember if they had even talked yesterday, but if they had it surely wasn't about politics or weather.

She stepped in and hopped on a stool. Most of Maid Marian's customers were foxes, but she saw that there was one raccoon dog and a bear as well. She was the only prey.

"Hey", she said to the bartender. There were two, the other being a pretty vixen but Judy had never seen her so he knew to ask from Joe.

"Hey. What can I get to you?"

"Uh…" Judy wasn't sure if the old fox would find it too impolite of she didn't order anything. "Just water."

"Alright. This isn't exactly the best place to come to drink water though", the fox said and handed her a huge glass of water. "It's 1,50."

She gave him 2,00 from her wallet, took a sip and cleared her throat.

"Well… I didn't exactly come here only to drink water", she said.

"Okay?"

"I was here yesterday. Or technically today", she said. "With Nick. You know him, right? It seemed like you were friendly with each other."

"Oh right, you're Nicky's girl! I remember you!" Joe said. "Yes, I know him. Why?"

"Well, there's- Um… He didn't come back this morning. And I have tried calling him but his phone is out of service. I was just wondering if you happen to know where he is."

The fox's expression changed very slightly and Judy could see the concern in his eyes.

"He didn't come back?"

"No. And he witch Finnick either, I already checked", she replied. Every Friday Nick and Finnick would go to Maid Marian so she was sure Joe would know the smaller fox as well. And Finnick had been with them yesterday/this morning.

"I see. I'm afraid I can't really help you, bunny. I haven't seen him after I sent him on a cab home, even paid for it. It was 4:50 when he left. I told the driver to take him straight to your apartment. That is all I know", Joe told her.

"And he was acting totally normal?"

"As normal as a drunk fox could act. We've done that many times and he has always made it home", he said.

"So you told the cab to go straight to the destination, but Nick never arrived… What cab was it?"

"Uh, Cheetah Taxi Services. I don't remember the license plate number but the driver was a tiger with a strong accent."

"What accent was it?"

"I don't know, maybe something eastern. He had a bobble head on his dashboard. An elephant or something."

"Alright. Thank you."

"No problem. Just find Nicky and bring him back safe; he's my best customer", he joked but to Judy it sounded like he was genuinely worried.

"Of course."

"Oh, and when you do find him, tell him that I expect him to pay me back for all the cab rides!" the fox yelled after Judy as she exited the bar.

She knew that the best place to head next would be CTS's headquarters. A quick search on Zoogle told her that the HQ was located in the middle of the city centre, in a skyscraper.

Since it was only a few kilometres away, she decided to walk. She kept thinking about any possible reasons to why Nick didn't come.

Maybe the cab had accidentally taken him to a wrong address?

Maybe Joe had accidentally told the driver Nick's old address?

Maybe- Maybe Nick had suddenly felt the urge to vomit and bolted out and decided to walk the rest of the way?

Maybe the driver had wanted to rob him and had beaten him up and now he was alone in a dark alley struggling to breathe, or maybe already dead?

She shook her head as she felt her thought going too dark.

"You're just paranoid", she said aloud to herself. "Of course he's not dead."

 _But then why isn't he here?_ a cold voice spoke inside her head. _He should have returned, shouldn't he? Something stopped him. Maybe an injury or death._

"I don't know but he isn't dead!" she hissed, ignoring the weird glares she got from other people.

 _Then maybe he's having fun with a vixen…_

"No", she growled.

Nick wouldn't do that. She knew it, he just wouldn't. He may look like a player but he was reliable and well-meaning and there's no way he'd ever cheat, no.

* * *

 **January 1, 2X17**

 **CTS Headquarters**

It was already pretty late, but Judy managed to contact the CEO. That is, after she had showed her badge. She knew that she wasn't supposed to use her authority like this, but to her finding Nick was more important.

"A tiger, eh?" the CEO repeated as she leaned back on her creaking chair. She was a cheetah and she wore a big red suit and a matching hat. She looked very tidy and proper, but her office smelled like cigarettes.

The fan on the ceiling was on, bringing chilly air into the otherwise stuffy room.

"Yes. My… Contact person told me that the tiger had a very strong accent. And oh, there was an elephant on his dashboard."

"Now, so you said that this… Missing person entered a taxi but didn't come back? Right?"

"That is right."

"Do you think the driver did something?"

"Well, no. No, not really but I think it is a possibility", Judy said. The cheetah frowned.

"You do understand that these are very powerful claims. We pick our drivers with caution; there has never been a-"

"I'm not sure if I did not make myself clear here but I am just looking for my friend. All I want to know where he is and if I had the chance to ask the driver, it would make this thing easier", Judy said sighing. "For all of us."

It was the cheetah's time to sigh. She booted up the computer on her table (the thing was very old! is this how you run a successful taxi company, the bunny wondered) and put on glasses.

"Whatever happened to your friend then, I really do hope you know to sue the driver instead of our company", she murmured as she started going through a list on the computer.

Judy barely managed to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

In five minutes the cheetah was done.

"Now, there are 17 tigers in my company. I can print you their private information, after all you are a _cop_ , but-"

"How many of them work near this one bar, Maid Marian?" Judy asked. "That's where my friend was picked up at. Maid Marian."

"Hm… Florenzo, Sharma and… Johnson. They are the drivers who drive on that area", the cheetah said after working on the computer for a minute.

"My contact person old me that the accent was eastern, so it sounds like this Sharma person is the one. However, I would like everyone's information in case it isn't him after all", Judy said.

The cheetah really hesitated but finally printed the papers out. She handed them to Judy.

"They're most likely driving at the moment, so I'm not certain they'll answer. You can always wait for them at a taxi stand."

"Yes. Thank you for your cooperation", Judy said and extended her paw to shake the cheetah's. Her arms were crossed and she reluctantly opened them and shook paws.

"My pleasure."

* * *

It must have been really good luck, or maybe it was fate, but just as she stepped out of the skyscraper, she saw two cab drivers, a tiger and a bear, talking to each other on the other side of the road, standing next to a cab that had the same license plate number as Sharma did, according to the paper Judy had been given.

She had just started approaching the drivers when they waved goodbye and the tiger stepped inside the cab.

Judy almost cursed (she was a fine lady, mind you) as she tried waving to the driver who started the car and left.

Judy knew it was crazy. She knew that any normal bunny wouldn't' have done it, but she started running after the cab, waving to the driver and trying to get him to stop. She was a small bunny so it was hard and every now and then she jumped.

She didn't even realize the cab stopped in the traffic lights until she ran into it and felt all the air escape from her lungs.

She must have blacked out for a half a millisecond, because the next thing she knew was she was staring at the bright, blue sky and the tiger got up from the car in almost panic.

"My god, are you alright, miss?" he asked and knelt next to her.

"I'm fine", she said and tried to get up. "I'm fine."

The tiger helped her up and she brushed the her knees with her paws.

"You sure? Did you hit your head or anything?"

"No, I'm okay", Judy said and looked at the car. There was a small dent on the rear bumper and she couldn't help but cringe at the fact that she could have gotten seriously hurt.

The tiger looked at the bumper as well and shook his head sadly.

"Oh, I'll pay for that! I'm sorry, this is all my fault!" Judy said ashamed. "I didn't realize that the light was red."

"Why were you running on the road anyway?" the tiger asked.

"I- uh… I actually needed to talk to you."

"To me?"

"Yes. It's about…"

A car beeped behind them and the elephant inside seemed to yell something about blocking the road.

"Oh, we should move", Judy said.

"Hop in", the tiger suggested. "I'll take you to a hospital. Just in case."

"I'm actually busy-"

"Whatever it is you're doing, it cannot be more important that your own health. Come."

Judy hopped inside the taxi. She noticed that there was a pink bobble head figure that looked like an elephant.

"Are you… Mr. Sharma?" she asked once they were on the move.

"Yes, that is my name. Which hospital?"

"Emerald Park's", she answered. Then she took a deep breath and asked: "Did you pick up a fox from this bar, Maid Marian, this morning at 4:50?"

"Hm… A fox. Yes, I did. He was drunk."

"The bartender paid for it, isn't that right?"

"Yes, old Joe. It wasn't the first time he has done that."

"You know him?"

"I mean, he is the owner. Of course I know about him."

"Right. He told you to take the fox straight to the address, right?"

Sharma's eyes widened and suddenly he looked very remorseful.

"Yes, he did."

"Did you?"

"Well… There were some… Complications."

"Complications?"

"You see, it wasn't the first time for me to drive the fox around. I have met him earlier at least three times. But no one ever told me that he was a cop!" he said. Judy carefully eyed him.

"So suddenly this guy says ' _hang on, I need to go somewhere_ ' and I'm like ' _where is this somewhere? I was supposed to take you home_ ' and he said that he wanted to go to Riley's, you know, that store that sells jewellery and bread. What's the deal with that, by the way? Couldn't they have built two different stores? Anyway, you know it, don't you? It's next to the pharmacy on the Shepherd's Road."

"Yes, I know." Everybody knew Riley's. It was even more known that Kelly's, that sold wrist watches and ropes.

"Okay, so the fox wanted to go there and I told him that I am not supposed to do that, so the he wipes out his badge and says that he'll arrest me if I don't do as he says! So of course I did then. I can't go to prison, I have a family. I have children!"

"You're not getting arrested", Judy said calmly. "So you took him to Riley's?"

"Yes."

"Then what?"

"I left."

"You left?"

"Well, I took him where he wanted to go and he thanked me so I thought that it's cool since he was a cop and didn't want to get back inside…"

"Alright. I see."

"Is- Has something happened? Because I didn't know-"

"I don't blame you, Mr. Sharma. But do you have any idea where he could have gone after visiting Riley's?"

"I don't know. Maybe he bought bread and ate it in the park? You know that park, right? It's right behind the corner."

Judy shook her head slightly and kept thinking hard.

"Is he missing or something?" Sharma suddenly asked. She didn't answer.

They arrived at the hospital and despite Judy's objections, Sharma didn't accept her payment and made sure she made it inside the hospital. Judy was lucky there weren't many other patients, so she had to only wait for ten minutes and the process was done in fifteen minutes. She was alright, but the nurse scolded her for such carelessness and Judy knew that she deserved it, but it still felt humiliating. She was a cop after all; she should know better than to run on the road behind a car.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sharma asked as Judy was ready to head back to start searching for Nick.

"I- To Riley's, of course", she replied.

"Nonsense. I'll take you."

"No, I can walk-"

"I can't help feeling that I'm somehow responsible to what that fox did or what happened to him, so I'm doing my best to help. Come now, it's getting late."

Judy didn't argue more and hopped in the car.

* * *

 **January 1, 2X17**

 **Riley's – a diamond & bread store**

It was 22:48 when they finally arrived to the store. Judy had finally gotten the tiger to leave as he has work to do, but he had said that she only needed to call and he'd come.

The store was big and the second Judy stepped in, she smelled fresh, warm bread. There was a kangaroo, judging from his clothes he was homeless, and he was staring intensely at the bread while a worker was pestering him. The other side of the store was filled with jewellery.

"Hello, how may I serve you?" asked the salesperson. He was an antelope in his early twenties.

"Judy Hopps, from ZPD", she said as she showed him her badge.

The antelope was just going to say something but Judy beat him to it.

"I'm looking for a fox", she said and showed him the wallpaper of her phone that was Nick, smiling smugly. "About this tall and he wore a white dress shirt and black pants. He came here this morning, around… 5 to 6 am. I assume that you were not the one working at the time, that is against the law after all, but…"

"Um, I'm sorry ma'am but we do not open until 9", he said. "So there's no way that anyone has been here."

"But… Are you sure?"

He chuckled.

"I'm positive, ma'am. Perhaps he tried to enter but couldn't get in, so you may be able to see him from the security camera. I'll just-"

"Excuse mah", a hoarse voice said. Judy turned around and saw the kangaroo. He was wearing an old olive green winter coat and his leans looked like he had been rolling in the mud.

"Yes?" the salesperson asked even though it was clear that the kangaroo was talking to Judy.

"Mah name's James, and Ah live outside", he said pointing at the park bench next to the small river. "There."

"Oh", Judy said. She felt horrible that there was still so much injustice in Zootopia.

"Yeah, well Ah couldn't help it but hear that you're lookin' fo' a fox."

"You've seen him?" Judy asked trying to mask her excitement.

"Yeah, talked to him. He was not pleased when he heard that the place was closed."

"Did you see where he went?"

"He started walkin' towards the station there", the kangaroo replied her while pointing farther away from the city. "Said somethin' about goin' home."

"Going home?"

"Yeah."

Judy felt pressure in her chest. Why hadn't he come home? Something was wrong, she was sure of it.

"I see. Thank you very much for your help, James."

"No problemo, bunny", the kangaroo said and waved and Judy stepped outside.

She started making her way to the station, worried for what she was about to find out.


	3. Carrots

**-Case Missing Officer-**

 _Yeah, it's been more than 6 months. I'm sorry. I've had a small writer's block, I knew what I was going to write but I wasn't sure how I was going to write it. But school is over, finals are over and I have graduated and now I have nothing but free time because my job is very easy._

 _As always I apologize for any mistakes I may have made, English is not my first language._

 _ **Disclaimer: Nah bro, I still don't own Zootopia.**_

* * *

 **-Chapter 3-  
Carrots**

 **January 1, 2X17  
Zootopia Central Train Station**

"Around 6 or 5 am", Judy mumbled to herself as she started making her way towards the station. "And it was already Sunday then."

It was clear to her what she had to do; check the timetables. But why would Nick have taken a train home when he could have just used the taxi that had already been paid for him, and why hadn't he returned? And why had he stopped at Riley's, the diamond and bread store? He didn't eat much bread and he didn't really care about diamonds. Sure, you could get a nice amount of money by selling them more or less illegally but he was a police officer now, a good one too, and he had left all that behind. At least Judy hoped so.

Since it was the New Year, she figured that there hadn't been that many trains and she was correct. From 5 am to 6 am two trains had left the station: one to the Sahara Square and another one through Bunnyburrow to a bigger town on the countryside. There was no reason for him to get on either of them.

Lucky to her, the station was filled with surveillance cameras. If he had boarded a train, she would see it on the tapes.

She saw a custodian, a gazelle who was wearing green overalls and listening to music, sweeping the floors (is that vomit? she thought) and humming. She walked closer to him and cleared her throat.

"Excuse me."

The custodian didn't hear her, instead he turned around and began dancing with the mop.

"Excuse me", Judy repeated louder but the gazelle had broken into a song.

" _Because Iiiiiiiiii've had the time of my liiiiife_ _  
_ _No, I never felt this way beeeeeefooore_ _  
_ _Yes I swear it's the truuuuuuuth-_ _"_

"Excuse me! Mister!" she finally yelled and the gazelle stopped to look at her.

"Cool! A duet!" he yelled. "Dance with me!"

"No, I'm not- Shouldn't' you-"

"Alright, alright", he said as he took the earphones off his ears. "What's the problem? If you're missing something, the Lost N Found box can be found at-"

"Oh, I certainly am missing something but I don't think it can be found in a Lost and found box", Judy told and showed him her badge. "Judy Hopps, ZPD. I'd like to see the surveillance tapes."

"The surveillance tapes", the gazelle repeated slowly as he leaned to the mop and almost slipped. As he regained his footing, he scratched his head and grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, that's not- Sorry ma'am, but it's not possible right now."

"Oh? May I ask why?"

"You see, I'm the only custodian working today. I don't normally celebrate anything, okay. I've been cleaning vomit for so long that I have gotten some ugly blisters. Wanna see?"

"No thank you, and to be honest all I want right now is to see the tapes."

"Mmmh, yeah, about the tapes. You see, it's also my job to make sure that the cameras are up and running."

"So what, are they not?"

"They are, they are, but-"

"Listen. I'm trying to find a missing person. No one has seen him after he left the bar today in the morning and his family is worried sick", Judy told the custodian, trying to make it sound like she didn't know Nick. "Last time he was seen, he was heading to the station. There's a small chance that he boarded a train, and I need to know which train."

"Oh. Well alright, I can show you the tapes-"

"Thank you."

"-but… But I'm not sure if you'll find what you're looking for. Okay, so they are this way. Follow me."

"Everything helps", Judy said. "What's your name?"

"My name? Joey."

"I see. Thank you, Joey."

* * *

Judy was sure no amount of alcohol would ever wipe this memory from her brain as she finally exited the station, leaving Joey to continue cleaning up vomit. He had taken her into the surveillance room and found the right tapes and until that she had been sure she was so close. Boy, how wrong she had been.

When Joey had said that the tapes wouldn't probably help her, he had been right. Because all of the cameras had been pointing at him as he had danced and sung like a maniac (which also had been the first song Judy saw performed on the tapes). It didn't sound too bad, but sadly at one point he had started stripping and that's when Judy had told him to stop the video. Joey apologized for not being able to help, and he also apologized for Judy's trauma.

It was 23:01 and in 90 minutes Nick would have been missing for 24 hours.

She tried calling him again, just in case. Still nothing.

"Guess I should head to the station now", she said to herself.

She stopped at the lights contemplating when she heard commotion coming near the station. She turned to look and saw two mammals, an opossum and a raccoon, fighting in front of a bar called Home.

She immediately took running to the mammals who couldn't have been much older than 21.

"Judy Hopps, ZPD", she said flashing her badge which caused the fighters to stop. "What us all this about?"

Both the raccoon and the opossum had some very small scars and bruises, but it didn't look like they were seriously hurt. After seeing Judy's badge, both of them got up in their feet and brushed off dust and dirt from their clothes.

"Good morning, officer- Er, I mean good evening!" the raccoon said.

"There's nothing to worry about, we were just... Uh... Our team won today and we were celebrating", the opossum said.

"Yes, that's what this is", the raccoon seconded.

"Your team? I didn't know there were any games today", Judy said skeptically.

"Er... You see-"

"We-"

"It's... Uh-"

"Now, save it. It didn't look like a serious fight so I'm letting you go but you need to go home, both of you. No more alcohol today."

"I mean we didn't even drink that much", the opossum said.

"I didn't even drink that much!" the raccoon yelled. "But Thomas here? He wouldn't have stopped if-"

"Go home or else I'm gonna have to arrest you", Judy threatened. "Is that clear?"

"Yes, officer. Of course, officer."

"We were just leaving."

The young boys looked at her apologetically and then walked away. Judy sighed and leaned on the wall. She wanted to find Nick and she was worried sick, playing every possible scenario in her head and none of them felt too good.

She was brought back to earth as the door opened and a zebra walked out of the bar. He quickly yelled goodbye before the door closed and nodded at Judy who had accidentally been staring. She realized it was already past midnight, 5 minutes actually.

Judy had heard of this bar, it had been opened just a few days ago, it probably hadn't been a full week yet. The bar's name had sparked up a huge controversy because some mammals believed that it made drunkards feel less bad staying away for the night drinking. But apparently the service was outstanding and they made good fries.

"Home", she muttered. "What an awful name."

But wait a minute.

No, it can't be.

But the bar was next to the station.

James said that Nick had walked towards the station, saying he was going to go home. What if he had said he was going to go to Hone instead?

But Nick wasn't an alcoholic. He knew that there were limits.

She cursed at the law that allowed bars to sell alcohol 24/7 and decided to go in, just in case. Maybe Nick was still partying?

No, he wouldn't do that. Besides it didn't sound very healthy.

* * *

 **January 2, 2X17**

 **Home Bar**

The door opened with a creak and she was greeted by the smell of different spices and sound of happy laughter. The bartender, a caribou, was just handing drinks to a pair of maned wolves and nodded at Judy. In the corner there was a panda eating fries but apart for her, the three customers and the bartender the bar was empty.

She didn't see any cameras and felt like some bigger power was trying to make her stop trying to find Nick.

"Welcome to Home! What shall I do for you?" the bartender asked Judy after he had served the wolves.

"I'm not actually here to buy anything, sorry", she said. She whipped her badge once more and showed it to the bartender. "Judy Hopps, ZPD. I'm looking for a missing mammal."

"A missing mammal, eh? Well, if it isn't a panda or a maned wolf, I doubt you're going to find them here", the bartender said. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, no, I mean that there is a chance that he came here earlier this morning. At 5 or 6 am, maybe even at 7? A red fox, 34, wearing a dress shirt with short sleeves and a bowtie."

"Hmm… Well my shift started about three hours ago so you're going to ask whoever was working then", the caribou said. "Please wait a second, I'll check."

He went into the backroom and Judy heard rustling, something crashing and cursing and the caribou came back. A book had been impaled by his antler and it looked like it was stuck and he was holding a piece of paper.

"Stupid antlers, they always get in the way", he muttered. He placed the paper in front of Judy. "Now, let's see. At 5 am and six am there were four workers in total; Jacob and Elaine at 5 am and their shift ended at 5:15 and Kowalski and Marty took after that. It would really make this easier if you'd know the exact time but I guess you can't help it."

"Oh, and by the way… He must've been very drunk at this point", Judy said a bit ashamed.

"Oh… Oh! I see… Yes, well we don't normally accept, say, drunk guests", the bartender told her. "You see, we have a reputation to uphold."

"So he hasn't been here?" Judy asked her ears drooping.

The maned wolves had started making out suddenly and Judy couldn't help but feel as if it was Nick with a vixen. She knew she should trust her boyfriend more, but it was starting to feel harder each minute he was still missing.

"I mean, if it was Kowalski who was working then he could as well been here. Kowalski is a very lax person. But if it was Elaine, then no. She loves rules and there's no way she'd let a drunk mammal, a drunk fox no less, to come in." He leaned a bit closer and whispered: "Between you and me she isn't too keen on foxes or predators. She's a sheep you see."

"I understand. Where can I find Mr. Kowalski?"

"I can call him right now if you'd like."

"Really?"

"Sure. Wait a second", he said and took his phone from his pocket. She dialed Kowalski's number and placed the phone on the table. It rung four times before Kowalski picked up.

"Hey, Lee here. You-"

"What the fuck man, you know I'm trying to sleep, why the fuck would you call me-"

"-are on speakerphone. I'm here with, uh, officer… What was it again?"

"Hopps", Judy said.

"Officer Hopps. Listen, Kowalski. She's trying to find a missing mammal and there's a chance he came here this morning on your shift. A red fox, he wore a dress shirt and a bowtie."

"A red fox, huh?" the tired voice on the phone repeated. "A red fox… A red fox. Hmm…"

"Somewhere around 6 am, perhaps even 5 am but you arrived 5:30 so you could have seen him even then, right?"

"Yeah, uh, let me think… Yeah, there was a red fox. He reeked of booze and vomit, eugh."

"So… So could it have been him? What was he wearing?"

"Um… He had no shirt on and I didn't see his trousers. But he wasn't looking too good, guess he had been partying all night."

"Oh no", Judy whispered so silently that the caribou hadn't heard.

"Where did he go? Did he order anything?"

"He was looking for, uh, it was really weird but he was looking for carrots. Yeah", Kowalski replied.

"Carrots? Do foxes even eat carrots?" the bartender asked perplexed.

"That's actually his nickname for me", Judy said. "So that must be him! But why would he look for me at a bar? He knows I went. To our apartment, I mean."

"Um, yeah, no, he talked about carrots for carrots or something. It was weird", Kowalski said.

"Did he tell you where he was going next?" the bartender asked.

"Nah, he passed out soon after that, after drinking the free New Year pint of course, haha… He went down almost immediately; God knows how he didn't die of alcohol poisoning. Anyway I took him to the backroom… He was still sleeping after my shift ended so I left a note… If you didn't see it, Minnie must've and she probably took him home", Kowalski told them.

"That dumb fox", Judy said accidentally aloud.

"I see. Thanks, Kowalski."

"No problem. Just don't ever call me again", Kowalski said as he hung up.

"So… He was here, it seems", the bartender said.

"Mmh. So wait, if he was here at 6 am… How long is one shift?"

"Uh, Kowalski's shift was 8 hours", the bartender answered.

"So he left at 2 pm", Judy calculated. "Nick probably woke up soon after that, do you think?"

"Not sure. He was probably hungover, could have slept a much longer too."

"You're right… I'd say 13 hours, max. It's safe to assume that he was awake at 19, probably even earlier. But if someone took him home, he would have called or at least answered my calls", Judy said.

"Have you asked any hospitals? Maybe he had to get his stomach pumped. Sounds like he drank a lot", the bartender pointed out.

"No, I haven't… you're right. Which hospital is the closest?"

The bartender didn't have time to answer before Gazelle's newest hit started ringing and Judy felt her pocket vibrating. She pulled out her phone and saw that someone was calling her from the station.

"I'm sorry, I have to-"

"Go ahead."

Judy nodded and picked up.

"Officer Hopps", she answered professionally.

"Hey Judy, it's Benjamin."

"Ben? What is it?"

"You need to come to the station. Quickly."

"What, why? Did something happen?"

She heard officer Clawhauser taking a deep breath.

"Nick has been found."


End file.
